In D.C., when we meet
someone new, the first question we ask is “What do you do?”

Our work is more than
just that thing we do to pay the bills. It’s our way of being part of something
bigger than ourselves. My work is a huge part of me: I’m a pastry chef and
queer feminist small business owner, running Grassroots Gourmet in Ward 5.

As a queer feminist
small business owner, I believe strongly that people should not have to choose
between their work and caring for themselves and their families — however they define
family, and wherever they work. It’s all of our responsibility to make sure
that everyone in our city and society has these basic rights. That’s why I
support the proposed Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation, which is up for
a final vote this Tuesday in the D.C. Council.

A real paid leave
program would mean I don’t have to check my feminist and queer values at the
door of my business. If my employees faced a debilitating accident or illness,
I wouldn’t have to just let them go with no money to live on. Paid leave would
mean that when I talk with my partner, who I’m marrying next fall, about having
children, we wouldn’t have to sacrifice their care in order to earn a living,
or vice versa.